Comprehensive Card Hunter FAQ and Glossary

Welcome to the Comprehensive Card Hunter FAQ and Glossary!
This FAQ may be more "Glossary" than "FAQ," but if you looking for info about the game you'll probably find the answer here.

If you just want a simple basic FAQ for beginners, you might start with the New Player FAQ.

Can't find something? If you're looking for an answer and can't find it here, please post in this thread the question, and what word(s) you thought to look it up under.

A-H

• Accelerate Time
• Accounts
  • Resetting/Deleting your account
  • Stuck accounts
• Acid terrain
• Acronyms, Initialisms and Abbreviations
• Adaptable
• AotA Bundle
• Armor
• Armor of Faith
• Arrogant Armor
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) - See “GM Opponents”
• Assist
• Attachments - See “Character Attachments” or “Terrain Attachments”
• Attack of the Artifacts Expansion
• Attacks
  • Anatomy of an attack
  • Attack type
• Auto Block
• Base Damage
  
• Basic Edition
• Battle Rage
• Blade Bouquet
• Blind Rage
• Blocks
  
• Blooming Ground
• Board Editor
• Boost Cards
• Bugs
• Burst
• Campaign (SP)
  • Adventures
  • Quests
• Cantrip
• Cardinal
• Cardinal & Intercardinal (Compass) Directions
  
• Cards
  • Card Types
• Card Quality / Card Value
  
• Centurion Challenge
• Chance
• Character Attachments
• Characters
• Chat Commands
• Chests
• Class
• Club Membership
• Compass Directions
  
• Co-op
• Collection Analysis - See: “Neoncat Tools”
• Cone effects
• Console
• Cooling Laser
• Crafting
• Create
  
• Cushioning Armor
• Custom Games
• Custom Game Tags
• Cuthbert’s Costumes
• Damage Types
• Dash, Team!
• Deck
• Default Move Card
• Defender's Block
• Defensiveness
• Destroy
  
• Destructive Purge
• Diagonal
• Die roll - See: “Chance”
• Disconnecting from the game
• Disorienting Block
• Doom
• Double Axe to the Face
• Draw Limit
• Duration
• Economy
  • Gold
  • Pizza
• Encumber
• EttSC Bundle
• Expedition to the Sky Citadel Expansion (EttSC, Cit)
• Facing
• Festering Guts
  
• Flight Aura
• Fly
• Free Draw
• Free Move
• Gene Therapy
• Genetic Engineering
• Gifting
• GM Opponents
• Gold - See “Economy > Gold”
• Group
• Guilds
• Halt
• Handicap Cards
  
• Heal
• Help the Weak
• Hidden Bandit
• Hover
• Hypnotic Beacon

 

I-Q

• Immediately
• Immunity
• Instant Burn
• Introductory Level
• Items (See also: Loot)
  • Best Items in the game
  • Identifying items during game play
  • Item Level Formula
  • Item Power Token Formula
  • Item Rarity
  • Item Types
  • Specialty Items
• Jim's Magic Missle
  
• Keeps
• Keywords
• Laser Beacon
• Laser Block
• Laser Cutdown
• Laser Malfunction Card
• Lava terrain
• Leagues
• Leathery Hide
• Level
  • Character Level
  • Item Level - See “Items > Item Levels”
  • Player Level
  • Renown Level
• Lifesaving Block
• Line of Sight
• Linear
• Loot (See also: Items)
• Loot Fairy
• Mad Dog
  
• Major Erratic Damage
• Make Invisible
• Mandatory Action
• Map Editor - See "Board Editor"
  
• Mauve Manticore (MM)
  • Mauve Manticore 5
  • See also: “Campaign > Adventures > Mauve Manticore”
• Maze of the Mind
• Menu
• Minion
• Minor Erratic Damage
• Move Cards
• Multiplayer (MP)
  • Casual and Custom games
  • Leagues
  • Quick Draw
  • Premade Parties
  • Ranked Multiplayer
  • Ranked Standings
• Muscle Through
• Negative Energy Being
  
• Neoncat Tools
• Order of Effects
• Party Order
  
• Path of Knives
• Penetrating
• Pizza - See “Economy > Pizza”
• Power Tokens
• Power Token Formula
• Premade Parties
• Promo Items
• Psychokinetic Mending
  
• Pull the Trigger
• Purge
• Purging Burst
• Purging Strike
• Push
• Push the Button
• PvE - See "Campaign > Adventures, or Quests"
• PvP - See "Multiplayer"
• Quests - See "Campaign > Quests"
• Quick Draw (QD)

 

R-Z

• Race
• Racial Move Card
  
• Range
• Ranked Standings
• Renown
• Repeated Targeting
  
• Respawn
• Rocket Dash
• Run, Team!
• "Same Target Multiple Times"
  
• Saving Roll
• Scuttle, Team!
• Shimmering Aura
• Slide/Slide Back
• Shops
  • Buying
  • Selling
  • Various Shops
• Shrug It Off
• Shuffle, Team!
• Spreading Laser
• Sprint, Team!
• Squeamish
  
• Standing
• Start of Round Effects
• Stone Feet
• Talented Healer
• Targeting Types
• Taverns
• Team Walk
• Teleport
• Teleport Self
• Terrain
• Terrain Attachments
• Time
• Timeouts
• Touch of Death
• Toughened Hide Strips
• Toughness
• Trading
• Trait
• Unbuffable
• Unpreventable Damage
• Utility Cards
• Violent Spin
• Walk, Team!
• Wall of Stone
• Wings of Faith
• XP - See “Level > Character Level”
• Zone of Control

*Be aware that certain aspects of the game can change over time, data in this thread will be attempted to be kept up-to-date, but at times may lag behind. A person can always look to see when a post was last edited to see when the most recent update on that topic was performed.

My sincere thanks to @Latheviosin, @Magic Elves and @Jon for their aid in providing some of the content for this thread as well as all those who have contributed to the Card Hunter Wiki which was a valuable resource in compiling some of this information.

 

Acid Terrain

Acid terrain discards all armor before inflicting damage. Cards that provide immunity to acid damage do not prevent the armor discard effect of acid terrain.

 

Acronyms, Initialisms and Abbreviations

As forms of shorthand are usually colloquially developed they tend to vary from player to player as well as come into, and fall out of use rapidly with game changes. However, here are some of the more commonly used CH (Card Hunter) acronyms, initialisms and abbreviations at this time.

AI - Acquisitions Inc. Expansion
AoA - All Out Attack
AotA - Attack of the Artifacts Expansion
AT - Accelerate Time
CH - Card Hunter
DB - Defender’s Block
Devs - Game developers
Elo - Ranked standing points in multiplayer play
EttSC - Expedition to the Sky Citadel Expansion
FF - Flash Flood or alternately, Force Field
FS - Firestorm
GoW - Gusts Of War
HtPD - Hard To Pin Down
LF - Loot Fairy
LFG - Looking for group...
LoS - Line of Sight
MF - Mass Frenzy
MP - Multiplayer
NS - Nimble Strike
OP - Over-powered, or alternatively on the forums, Original Post
PoK - Path Of Knives
PvE - Player versus environment
PvP - Player versus player
QD - Quick Draw
SCR - Sparkling Cloth Armor
SP - Single Player, the Campaign
SPR - Short Perplexing Ray
SSB - Surging Shield Block
TK - Telekinesis
VP - Vibrant Pain, or alternately, Victory Point/Victory Square(s)
VT - Vicious Thrust
WoS - Wall Of Stone
WoW - Winds Of War
WW - Whirlwind
WWE - Whirlwind Enemies

 

AotA Bundle



The AotA Bundle is a purchasable add-on option in CH. It provides:

• The 5 AotA Treasure Hunts that must be purchased to unlock
• 30 days of Club Membership
• The 9 AotA figures
• 3 Magnificent Artifact chests

When does the club membership begin/what if I already have membership?
The club membership will begin immediately. If a player already has an active club membership when they buy the AotA Bundle their existing membership will have an additional 30 days added to its length.

What if a player already has the figures or treasure hunts?
This is a bundle package, it gives an overall discount but may not be right for a person who has already purchased the treasure hunts or figures. A person who already has either or both will not gain anything additional in lieu of these aspects of the bundle, nor will they get a discount on the bundle.

Where do I get my figures?
The AotA figures, like all unlocked figures in the game, can be accessed from Cuthbert’s Costumes.

Where do I get my chests?
The chests given in the bundle are specifically AotA chests and therefore will be found either in “House of the Artifacts” chest shop next to the Valley of Tezkal on the Campaign map, or in “Artifact Chests” chest shop on the Multiplayer map.

What treasure hunts does it give?
Beneath Tcotzac
Crystals of Chronak
The Troll Tyrant
Secret of the Elder Mind
Black Plume Mountain
*(Valley of Tezkal the first AotA Treasure Hunt is free and does not need to be unlocked and is therefore not included.)

I didn’t receive my pizza.
The AotA Bundle, unlike the Basic Edition, does not give Pizza as part of the package.

 

Armor

Armor cards are recognized by the grey background color of the card. Cards of this type may reduce (or even negate) damage from attacks. Armor cards are not played, but trigger automatically, usually any time a player takes damage. Most armor cards require a successful die roll to take effect. If they are successful they reduce the total damage taken by the noted amount. If armor does not have the die icon it always reduces damage when triggered. Armor can reduce damage down to, but not below 0. If multiple armor cards are present, they trigger in hand from left to right. If at any point there is no more damage to be prevented, the remaining armor cards will not trigger.

 

Armor Of Faith

This card provides an armor effect but is not an armor card and will not be affected by cards that target armor.

 

Arrogant Armor

Arrogant Armor will not discard existing attachments when it is drawn.

 

Assist

Cards of this type produce beneficial effects when played. They are recognized by the white background color of the card. By default you will only target ally characters with Assist cards. Should you wish to target your opponent’s figures you can hold down the CTRL key while clicking on the card. (If you make a habit of this, you may wish to switch off Auto-target in the game menu.)

 

Attack of the Artifacts Expansion (AotA)

Attack of the Artifacts was the first expansion for Card Hunter. It was released on April 25th 2014 and added 103 new cards and 210 new items to the game. It also included nine new character figures, the implementation of Leagues for Multiplayer, and six new Treasure Hunts for the Campaign including the first ever level 18 adventures. All the cards that came out in the AotA expansion are marked by the AotA symbol: in the lower left corner of the card illustration.

 

Attacks
Cards of this type inflict damage or tend to have other negative effects on the opponent when played. They are recognized by the red background color of the card. Each card has its damage value and maximum range depicted at the bottom left and right of the card respectively, if applicable. Hovering over an Attack card will highlight in red all squares that you can reach with the card. Characters that are valid targets will also be shown highlighted. By default you will only target enemy characters with Attack cards. Should you wish to target your own figures you can hold down the CTRL key while clicking on the card. (If you make a habit of this, you may wish to switch off Auto-target in the game menu.)

Anatomy of an Attack
An attack can be a complicated event, there are many things that can affect an attack, or cause additional effects other than just taking damage. Sorting out everything that can occur and the order in which it occurs can be quite the ordeal, but understanding this ordering of events can also reveal why things in CH play out the way they do. So here is an attack dissected into its potential parts:

1. Play card.
2. Select targets.
3. Card is removed from hand and played (no cancelling after this).
4. Step moves are taken and instigator can pivot (e.g. for cone attacks).
5. Instigator turns to face targets, if applicable.
6. Discard any cards that must be discarded when played (e.g. Violent Overswing).
7. Trigger any "when played" effects (e.g. Dodge).
8. Determine who is affected by the card.
9. Carry out any immediate effects (e.g. Staggering Blow).
10. Trigger any "action" effects (e.g. blocks, extra damage, etc). These are checked in order:
    1. Cards in allies' hands (hands checked in party order, cards within hands checked left to right).
    2. Cards attached to allies.
    3. Cards in enemies' hands (party order, left to right).
    4. Cards attached to enemies.
11. Any secondary effects from these triggers (e.g. damage from blocks) occurs immediately following the primary triggered effect and may trigger cascading additional effects.
12. Check card for validity and cancel if the targets are now invalid (e.g. moved out of range).
13. Resolve the card - damage or whatever the primary card action is. Damage will resolve before any other effects. For damage, there are several additional sub-phases:
    1. Trigger any pre-damage effects (e.g. Vulnerable attached to the target).
    2. Check for any armor in the target's hand or attached to the target.
    3. Enact the damage.
    4. Trigger any post-damage effects (e.g. Martyr Blessing).
    5. Check for death.
14. Discard the card, or attach to target, or return to hand in some cases.
15. Targets turn to face an attacker.

All triggered cards (e.g. armor, etc) are either returned to hand or re-attached or discarded after they trigger in this sequence.

Attack Type
Attacks are classified into different types. If a card has an attack type it will usually be listed before the damage type (if there is one) on the info bar between the card's illustration and text box; however, it can also appear in the card text. Certain cards will only interact with certain types of attacks. Attack types include, but may not be limited to:

• Magic
• Melee
• Projectile

 

Basic Edition



The Basic Edition is a purchasable add-on option in CH. It provides:

• The 11 Original Treasure Hunts that must be purchased to unlock
• 30 days of Club Membership
• The 9 extra figures
• 100 slices of Pizza

Do I get all the Treasure Hunts with the Basic Edition?
No. The Basic Edition gives access to the 11 Treasure Hunts that existed at the original release of the game, it does not include Treasure Hunts added on through expansions. The included Treasure Hunts are:

The Defense of Woodhome
Forest of Souls
Order of the Core
Return to Woodhome
The Sinister Wood
Descent to the Core
Temple of Scales
High Mountain Pass
Lord Batford's Manor
Cliffs of the Wyverns
Dungeon of the Swamp King

When does the club membership begin/what if I already have membership?
The club membership will begin immediately. If a player already has an active club membership when they buy the Basic Edition their existing membership will have an additional 30 days added to its length.

What if a player already has the figures or treasure hunts?
This is a bundle package, it gives an overall discount but may not be right for a person who has already purchased the treasure hunts or figures. A person who already has either or both will not gain anything additional in lieu of these aspects of the bundle, nor will they get a discount on the Basic Edition.

Where do I get my figures?
The figures, like all unlocked figures in the game, can be accessed from Cuthbert’s Costumes.

Where do I get my chests?
The Basic Edition, unlike the AotA Bundle, does not give chests as part of the package.

 

Blind Rage

Blind Rage is a handicap. When this card triggers at the beginning of a round dealing damage to the character to whom it is attached, the damage is increased for every attack card of any type in the character’s hand (melee and non-melee attacks) at the time of trigger.

• If other attachments that cause card draw triggered first at the beginning of a round, any attack card drawn in this way will be counted for calculating damage.
• This damage will not be reduced by armor, but will trigger and receive immunity from Toughness.
• If the character has zero attack cards when Blind Rage triggers, the damage animation will still play but the character will take 0 damage (when taking 0 damage, the damage will not be increased by cards such as Vulnerable that trigger upon taking damage).

 

Blocks

A card type that may cancel another card causing it to be discarded without effect if certain conditions are met. Blocks are recognized by the green background color of the card. Blocks are not played, but trigger automatically when a character is targeted by an enemy. Some blocks are triggered by any type of enemy card, many will be triggered by only certain types of attacks. Block cards will only trigger when the character bearing them in his hand is facing the instigating enemy character. Most blocks need a die roll to succeed (see “Chance”). If a card is blocked it will be canceled and any additional effects from the card will not take place.

If a card targets or affects multiple characters, only those characters that block will avoid the effect, but if all potentially affected characters successfully block, the entire card will be canceled.

Cards that target board squares instead of characters can still be blocked if they have a direct effect on characters; when these cards are blocked, only the portion of the effect applying to the character will be canceled.

 

Board Editor

The board editor allows players to make custom boards for casual play. It can be accessed from the “Create Casual Game” button in multiplayer. Guides for using the board editor can be found here. NOTE: Opening the board editor will require longer than normal load times.

 

Boost Cards

Boost cards do helpful things to you. They are recognized by the orange background color of the card. Most Boosts trigger when other cards are played to improve or change that card’s effects.

 

Bugs

If your game is stuck or glitched please see “Stuck Accounts.” If you believe you’ve discovered a bug or discrepancy in the game, the proper thing is to report it in the Bug Forum.

 

Burst

Burst creates an area of effect counted outward from the target square in all directions to any square within the given distance that has line of sight with the target square.

If a burst card affects characters directly (e.g. an attack card), the order of the effect will be first the target (center) square, and then any remaining characters will be affected beginning in the southwest corner of the burst area, moving up to the northeast corner resolving a north-south column at a time from south to north.

 

Adventures

An adventure consists of a module of battles within the campaign. Each adventure is made up of 1-6 battles thematically tied together. To complete an adventure a player must defeat each battle of the adventure with no more than 2 cumulative defeats within that adventure; however, losses to the first battle in an adventure do not count against the total. If a player is defeated a third time, they will have the option to spend 15 gold for three more attempts, or to restart the adventure over from the beginning for free. Once an adventure has been completed it will become exhausted for the remainder of the CH day. Exhausted adventures can be replayed, but give reduced loot and experience points.

There are four types of adventures:

• Standard Adventures
  • There are 40 standard adventures ranging from level 1 to 17 and all are free to play. They make up the main storyline of the Campaign. They begin with “Raid on Ommlet” and end with “CardStock II Secret Preview.”
  
  
• Treasure Hunts
  • There are 26 Treasure Hunts ranging from levels 6 to 21, all but two of which have to be purchased to play. Treasure Hunts can be purchased individually or in certain packaged groups at a discounted price. They are also available as part of the Basic Edition, the AotA Bundle, the EttSC Bundle, and the AI Bundle. Each Treasure Hunt gives a specific guaranteed epic item for the first time completing the adventure. While Treasure Hunts expand the playable CH universe, they are not necessary to play and compete in CH. Even the first time completion rewards are all attainable through free-to-play loot drops. Once a Treasure Hunt has been purchased by a player, that adventure remains available to them for the life of their account.
  
  
• Mauve Manticore Adventures
  • Mauve Manticore Adventures are player created adventures that have been selected for use and made available to the CH universe as part of the “Card Hunter Fan Magazine.” They exist outside of the Campaign storyline and new ones are released on a semi-regular basis. Like Standard Adventures they are free to play, but unlike Standard Adventures or Treasure Hunts they don’t use player’s parties but instead are played with fixed characters. Because MM adventures use fixed characters they do not have an adventure level associated with them, but the scenarios can range from relatively easy to quite difficult. If a player finds them too difficult, there are aids and tutorials on the forums. Anyone is allowed to submit custom scenarios for consideration in future MM issues, but only the best and most polished submissions get chosen.

• Special Adventure
  • There are a few additional adventures that don't fall into any of the preceeding categories. These would include Caverns of Chaos, Return to Caverns of Chaos and the pre-built party AI Adventures.

Level 1 Adventures
The Level 1 Adventures make up the new player tutorial and are not meant to be replayed. Therefore, they disappear after the first play-through. They are the only adventures, in addition to the introductory Greenfang Challenge, that become unplayable upon completion.

Storyline

The storyline revolves around the main character of Gary and plays out through the first play-through of the campaign. Currently there is no in game way to access it after the first play-through.